An AI brain on retainer, without the full-time head count.
Most small and mid-market businesses don't need a full-time head of AI. They need someone they can call when a vendor pitch shows up Wednesday, or when a competitor announces something and the leadership team asks "what are we doing about this?" That's the role.
What this is
Ongoing AI advisory for a business, structured as a monthly retainer. Same advisor, same context, for 6-12 months or longer. The role acts as part-time AI leadership embedded with your leadership team, available for strategic decisions that come up between bigger engagements.
What's included in a typical retainer
- Monthly leadership check-in (60-90 min). Standing meeting with the owner or executive team. Agenda. Discussion of what's changed in the AI landscape that affects you. Planning what's next.
- On-call advisory. Email and text availability for questions that come up between meetings. Same-day response for urgent items, 2-business-day for everything else.
- Quarterly strategy review. Deeper session looking at outcomes, adjusting the 12-month plan, pre-thinking the next quarter.
- Vendor pitch screening. Send us the pitch or deck, we tell you whether to take the meeting and what to ask if you do.
- Internal AI champion coaching. If there's someone internal you want to develop as the in-house AI lead, we coach them.
- Quick-win project scoping. When something specific comes up that would benefit from a small implementation push, we scope it within the retainer.
What's not included
Fractional doesn't include extensive implementation work, hands-on training delivery beyond occasional sessions, or large-scale builds. Those are scoped as separate engagements (Implementation, Training, Automation). The retainer keeps the strategic relationship alive between the bigger pieces of work.
Who this is built for
- Small businesses with 10-50 employees and no internal AI/tech leadership role
- Mid-market companies (50-500 employees) that want senior AI thinking without a full-time C-level addition
- Solo founders running larger operations (ecommerce brands, services firms, agencies) who need a thinking partner on AI specifically
- Businesses coming off a successful implementation engagement that want to keep the strategic relationship going
Who it's not for
- Businesses that haven't decided AI is a priority. Start with a one-off implementation engagement first.
- Businesses looking for hands-on technical delivery. That's a different role.
- Businesses that want unlimited access. Fractional means fractional.
Engagement structure
Six-month minimum. Most engagements run 12 months and renew. Three-month exit clause built in for both sides. Monthly billing, no annual prepay required.